In yesterdays post I highlighted the free on-line courses that could be undertaken for individuals wanting to gain understanding of the futures and options market. The focus today will be on the equity market, in particular the Australia equity market. I know that the majority of my readers are from the US however I think that it is important to expand your horizons as there are many investment opportunities outside the US.

The ASX much like the CME has an excellent investor education section. The first place to start would be the Getting Started in Shares(PDF) publication, this will give you a very brief introduction to share trading and the ASX. There are also a series of audio visual presentations that can be viewed while you are online. These audio visual presentations include:

• What is the share market?
• What is a stock broker?
• An introduction to trading language.
• An introduction to Listed Managed Investments (LMI’s).
• An introduction to interest rate securities.

In addition to these audio visual presentations there are several free online courses that can be undertaken. In order to sign up for these courses you need to register with MyASX which is also free. The courses are well structured and easy to follow. The layout of the course screen is shown below:

The courses contain interactive content and tests and quizzes to reinforce knowledge. The courses are rated beginner. intermediate or advanced. The courses that relate to share trading are:

• Getting started in shares – Beginner
• Starting in the sharemarket – Beginner
• Tracking your sharemarket investment – Beginner
• Analysing and selecting shares – Intermediate
• Developing an investment portfolio – Intermediate

As well as the sharemarket courses also cover options, warrants, interest rate securities and contracts for difference(CFD’s).

• Getting started in options – Beginner
• Option trading strategies – Intermediate
• Getting started in warrants and instalment warrants – Beginner
• Getting started in interest rate securities – Beginner
• ASX CFD Introduction – Intermediate

These courses form an excellent foundation for understanding the Australian sharemarket. With such a strong growing resource sector I think that the Australian share market is worth investigating for the astute investor.